Overall cost of operating a marine vessel depends on a number of factors that can be measured during operation of the marine vessel. These factors include environmental factors that are independent of the marine vessel itself and vessel-related factors that reflect condition or operating characteristics of the marine vessel. Examples of the environmental factors include wind characteristics (speed, direction) and water characteristics (depth, density, viscosity), whereas examples of the of the vessel-related factors include speed of the marine vessel, draught of the marine vessel, performance of the power train of the marine vessel.
In marine vessels, a dominant approach for generating thrust to move the vessel across the water involves usage of marine propulsion. At a high level, a marine propulsion system includes a propeller attached to a rotatable shaft, whereas one or more engines in the vessel are arranged to rotate the shaft, thereby providing the thrust needed for moving the vessel. Characteristics of these (and other) components of a marine propulsion system are designed such that a desired or required amount of thrust and desired operational efficiency is provided e.g. in view of the hull design of the vessel and size of the vessel. In some scenarios, in order to reach desired/required amount of thrust and/or operational efficiency, a vessel may be provided with a plurality of marine propulsion systems like the one outlined above.
While operational efficiency of the marine propulsion system(s) is a key contributor to the operating efficiency—and hence the operating cost—of the marine vessel, there are number of vessel-related factors as well as environmental factors may play a significant role in estimation of the overall operational efficiency of the marine vessel. However, to date, there is no diagnostics system or technique available that would facilitate accounting for all major factors that contribute to the operational efficiency of the propulsion system and that would thereby facilitate invoking actions that enable operating the marine vessel in a cost-effective manner in a timely manner.